Revealed: This Is How Much Money SBW Turned Down In Favour Of A Return To Super Rugby

By now you would have heard the news that Sonny Bill Williams has rejected European advances in favour of a return to Super Rugby with the Auckland Blues.

The centre has accepted a deal with the NZRU despite a huge offer on the table from an unnamed European club. Williams has signed a lucrative three-year deal worth NZ$ 2.5 million. That comes in at around $800k a season [just over €500k].

Williams’ manager has told reporters his player rejected several offers from Europe. The highest salary offer the 30-year-old received was €2.5m over two seasons. This would have been a world record salary [working out at $NZ 2 million a season] and was apparently offered by French giants Toulon.

Williams stated that it’s not always about money and he chose Auckland for family reasons.

“I’ve got a young family, got a little daughter, and hopefully we’ll have some more kids running around in the next few years.

“My wife doesn’t have any family here [New Zealand] and most of my family is in Auckland. Obviously I’m an Auckland kid so it’s pretty much home for me.”